Only 60 per cent of water, 75 per cent of fertilizer used
Fertigation, a combination of drip irrigation and
application of fertilizers, introduced at the Agricultural Engineering
College and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University at
Kumulur near here to irrigate banana crop, has started showing results.
The
experiment has been taken up on ‘Elarasi’ banana variety, which is
raised by a limited number of farmers in the district as it requires
labour-intensive care throughout its duration of about a year. “The
growth of the banana plants, raised about a couple of months ago, has
been quite normal. Not only that, there has been a marked quality
growth,” said Dean K. Ramaswamy. A majority of farmers tend to use a
huge quantum of water when it comes to banana in general and ‘Elarasi’
in particular. “But, our experiment aims to show that is not required in
delta region,” he said, showing the stout growth of the plants at the
fields on the institute premises.
Over-irrigation in
banana often led to wastage of water, leaching of nutrients and problems
caused by weeds. Drip irrigation, through uniform and direct
application of water at root zones, eliminated the problem, he said.
There should be neither short nor excess irrigation for banana, he said,
explaining the actual daily water requirement for banana at various
levels. “It requires just four litres during the initial period and
about 16 litres when the plant is fully-grown,” he added.
A
team of scientists and research scholars had been keeping a close
monitoring of the growth of plants and the moisture level of soil. “We
supply water and fertilizer through drip irrigation technique as and
when required.
The duration of supply is closely
monitored so that not even a drop of excess water is used.” said K.
Arunadevi, Assistant Professor, Soil and Water Conservation Engineering.
Monitoring
of the moisture content ensured the speedy and quality growth of
plants. Further, the growth was found to be uniform in all the plants,
she added.
Mr. Ramaswamy said that the cost of
cultivation had been reduced on various fronts. Only 60 per cent of
water used under conventional irrigation system was utilised under the
new system. Only 75 per cent of fertilizer used under conventional
method was used with minimum labour and high-nutrient supply.
The
crop would be harvested by the beginning of next year. Farmers would be
exposed to the technique in the course of time, the Dean added.
Source : The Hindu
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